Mike Freese, Paul Thomsen, Dr. Walt Snyder, Elizabeth Battocletti and Karl Gawell discuss
whether federal and state programs will be sufficient to harness the significant contribution
geothermal energy can make to domestic alternative energy supply.
Geothermal
Energy:
Will Federal Support Be Sufficient to Harness Its Vast
Potential?
Thursday, March 2, 2006
2:00 - 3:30 p.m.,
628 Dirksen Senate Office Building
The Environmental
and Energy Study Institute and the Geothermal
Energy Association invite you to a Congressional
briefing to examine whether federal and state programs will be
sufficient to harness the significant contribution geothermal
energy can make to address President Bush’s call for an
increased domestic alternative energy supply. On August 8,
the President signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT, P.L.
109-58) calling in part for increased funding for renewable
energy R&D. In December 2005, a bipartisan coalition
of 32 Members of the Senate and 126 Members of the House urged
the President to fully fund the energy efficiency and renewable
energy (EE/RE) provisions of EPACT and retain core EE/RE
programs, including geothermal energy. On February 20, the
President reiterated his belief that the nation is “addicted
to foreign oil,” renewing his call for increased spending on
science R&D and education and greater government incentives
for the makers and users of alternative sources of energy.
However, on February 6, the President’s FY 07 budget
request zeroed out the core Department of Energy (DOE)
geothermal program, a $23.1 million cut.
Furthermore, EPACT extends the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for
geothermal energy for only two years, making it very hard for
the geothermal industry to make use of it.
The briefing will
examine the full range of geothermal activities taking place
across the country. Current and planned power projects
will be discussed by one of the leading companies developing new
geothermal projects in several states and on military lands.
The panel will explore the role of the Intermountain West
Geothermal Consortium established by EPACT with its newly
appointed director. A member of the Western Governor’s
Association (WGA) Geothermal Task Force will review their recent
January 2006 report. The report concluded that, within the
next ten years, between eight and 15 gigawatts of electric power
could be brought on-line to help meet national energy needs. To
achieve this, they make a series of recommendations, including
“a strong, continuing geothermal research effort at DOE that
addresses the full range of technical problems encountered in
achieving full production from the identified resources and
undiscovered resources in the West.” The briefing will
also highlight state and local efforts supported by DOE’s
GeoPowering the West (GPW) initiative, which has active efforts
in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada,
New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Washington, and is working in
Colorado, Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming.
-
Opening
remarks by Mike Freese, Legislative
Assistant, Office of Senator Craig
(R-ID) Opening
Remarks
-
Paul
Thomsen, Public Policy Administrator, Ormat
Technologies Presentation
-
Dr.
Walt Snyder, Director, Intermountain West
Geothermal Consortium (IWGC) and Director, Geoscience
Research Department of Geosciences, Boise State University
Presentation
-
Elizabeth
Battocletti, Senior Associate, Bob Lawrence &
Associates, Inc. Presentation
-
Karl
Gawell, Executive Director, Geothermal Energy
Association; member, WGA Geothermal Task Force Presentation
With continued
federal and state support, much more geothermal generation is
possible. The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimates a
hydrothermal resource base of 95,000-150,000 megawatts (MW), of
which 25,000 MW are known resources. Additionally, there
are extensive direct-use resources spanning the entire country
that are largely underutilized. The WGA Task Force reports
that if geothermal power expands by 5,600 MW in 5-10 years, it
would mean direct investment of $23.5 billion into the economy
and nearly $100 million in annual federal royalty revenue.
This briefing
requires no reservations and is open to the public. Please
feel free to forward this notice. For more information,
contact Theresa Murzyn, Environmental and Energy Study Institute
(202-662-1884), tmurzyn@eesi.org
or Alyssa Kagel, Geothermal Energy Association (202-454-5261), research@geo-energy.org.
###
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